The return trek to the Temple of Gorphat is an exercise in concentration for Alptraum. Trying to manage the condition caused by Gorphat's latest blessing with the shadow works in small bursts, with about a minute of reprieve before having to do it all over again. He can't afford to do another bloodletting treatment so soon after the last one, lest he have trouble focusing at all. The shadow at least can deal with the pain, but the priapism issue is beyond its soothing effect.
Upon reaching Mt. Gorphat, a new dilemma presents itself: sneak in through the back, or head in through the front, where at least part of his condition will be obvious. Another option could be to visit Blarf's tent, since the weird creature is able to sooth Nicora when she visits.
Well, for now Alptraum decides to go through the back entrance. He'd rather not alert the temple folk out front to his presence unless he absolutely has to do so. Or can at least arrange things so it's less obvious if he does need to go out there. So, through the hidden entrance!
At some point, the booby-traps should be reset. It's is a quiet path at least, despite the smells that give extra veracity to the bowels of the temple. Past the empty dungeon and the plague kitchen, and into the rough-hewn corridors of the lower section Alptraum forges on, with every slip of concentration making him want to walk funny.
Alptraum's left eyelid is twitching at points too. He could have come as Scourge, which would have negated the issue of walking and such, but that would also be letting Gorphat control him by making him choose, and that would be appearing perhaps a bit too weak. So, he's walking, concentrating as best he can, and grateful he knows unused ways through the temple as he makes his way to the main altar room.
The hardest part is sneaking past the large dorm chambers for the Yodhmaab and Yodhgorphat trainees, and to a lesser extend the one for the barmaap and bargorphat ones. It requires using the shadow a bit, which means focusing on something other than his grumpy groin, but the efforts do work.
"Gorphat," Alptraum says as he enters the chamber, left eye still twitching a bit as he is soothing the pain mostly right now, but his pants are quite, quite, tight. "What is it you wish of me? I have seen others regarding this, and have been told it's a curse that only you can remove. And thus, that you must desire something of me."
"It is a challenge," Gorphat eventually responds.
"That only you can remove, and only if I do what you wish," Alptraum repeats, voice even and level. "So, what is it you want?"
"I want you to overcome your challenge, of course," Gorphat claims. "That is all that I ever want when bestowing a blessing. Once you have done so to my satisfaction, I will remove the blessing." the goddess replies. "Have you asked yourself how you might overcome this?"
"Bed with one of Your creatures, or You, I figured," Alptraum answers after a bit of biting back more frustration from the discomfort. "It's either that, or live as Scourge the dragon, or a woman, forever."
"Forever is a long time," Gorphat notes. "I don't think Inala has that much patience."
"So, yes, it was a bit of punishment for Inala's actions," Alptraum points out and runs his hands through his hair. "You know I will lay with you, so is that what you desire? Or is it one of the others, such as the Horrib Queen, or Magog...?"
"It isn't much of a challenge if I just tell you how to overcome it," Gorphat points out in return. "It is hardly a challenge to bed Me. You would do that anyway, out of your love and attraction to me."
"This is true, yes, and you know I usually desire to bed you; it just isn't often to happen," Alptraum concedes. "So, you expect me to just ... try things until I find that which you desire."
"It is not about what I desire," Gorphat claims. "It is about what lengths you will go to in order to overcome the challenge."
Alptraum sticks out his tongue a moment. "Can I start with you?" he actually asks.
"Do you wish to bed me out of love, even though it may prolong your challenge?" Gorphat's voice coos wetly.
"Of course," Alptraum answers. Whether it helps or not, it is a bit showing off for Gorphat anyway! And even if it's risky, given she's done other things to him before when he has, too.
And so Alptraum feels a very damp, very clammy invisible touch on his cheek.
Alptraum leans his head slightly into the touch. He reaches out too, trying to see if he can actually find the invisible Eeee touching him. That, or he's just crazy.
While invisible, the space which Alptraum reaches for still feels soft and squishy (and somewhat sticky). Then Gorphat becomes visible; a pudgy Eeee woman with patches of green fur (and lots of bare patches of skin, some of them scabrous or covered in weeping pustules). The odor is nearly visible as well, a strong scent of decay and sickness which Alptraum can probably imagine as just being the scent of the sea if he tries). Her breasts and genitals are a bit saggy and drippy, and her teeth are different colors when she smiles. Still, she is a goddess, and so wears a mantle of supernatural beauty all the same.
Alptraum doesn't even hesitate, he reaches up and cups her cheek, then leans in and kisses her. Complete with tongue. His free hand, well, that one explores; cups between her legs and squeezes one moment, then slides up and cups a saggy breast and squeezes too. He would actually probably be aroused even without this 'challenge', and he holds that kiss for a disturbing amount of time.
Now things throb and hurt even more, due to the actual arousal layered atop the forced version. Gorphat explores as well, cupping Alptraum's bottom and slowly forcing his cheeks apart to do a bit of probing with a finger. At least it's a lubricated finger!
Alptraum grunts, though he shouldn't be too surprised, and ... has learned to enjoy that sometimes too anyway. He pushes Gorphat back, gently, until she's against the altar. And that's when he breaks the kiss. Things are definitely aching right now, and it's making him tremble just a little. He slides his hand down and cups her nethers again, then uses his fingers to spread them (while getting coated in ooze in the process.). "I know the risks of entering you," he murmurs, "And I accept them willingly." He even inserts a couple fingers for a moment and sort of pumps them. He actually pushes his rump back against her finger.
"I cannot keep family as pets," Gorphat gurgles. "So that risk is absent." Using the finger she inserted into Alptraum, she tugs him closer.
Alptraum lines up the part of himself that really hurts ... and soon it's sliding right into some of Gorphat's sagging flesh. Again, no hesitation. "Pity," Alptraum actually whispers in Gorphat's ear. "I remember all you did to the lapi, and what you gave him was ... a delightful challenge." And then he's fully inside her; ache and all.
It's soothingly cool at first, but then it feels too hot, almost like frostbite due to the blessing. Other parts feels like bags full of angry biting insects. Except for the inserted finger, which feels normal.
Alptraum grits his teeth, and goes to work. Even with it feeling hot, then cold, then just plain angry. It's a struggle, but he's grateful to have the altar behind her to lean more on if his legs get too shaky. So, he's taking the Goddess, there and then, while very, very uncomfortable and in pain. But at least because of the cause, well, even hurting he won't get soft!
Gorphat gurgles her approval, and foams a bit down below, her mucous forming bubbles. Alptraum feels like his balls are being crushed, but it's only a feeling as both of Gorphat's hands are occupied and she hasn't sprouted any others that he sees. She does make a lot of body sounds, often just due to her bare skin patches sticking together and then releasing - most notably under her left breast. Down below, she may as well be singing, if a song can be made of parp-parp noises. She's starting to drip onto Alptraum's feet as well, especially when she tries to lift one of her legs to hook over his hip.
And yet Alptraum keeps going. Gross as it is, he's somehow able to not dwell on that and instead continues his movements, while in pain and with a thing out of nightmares. Dagh, some of it is actually making him more aroused; it might even be how, well, drippy and gross it is, and it reminds him of being well, Nicora and in some disturbing ways he likes that.
It hurts so much that it feels three times too large from the sensations (apparently supernatural pain receptors outnumber mundane pleasure ones). It doesn't seem like there's going to be any release, or else one made of broken glass from the feel of it. And this isn't far from what happens, as Gorphat manipulates things with her finger until Alptraum feels like he's passing a string of kidney stones!
So the altar room ends up filled with the sounds of a howling animal in pain! Really, Alptraum just sees stars and dark spots as he rides this out. The agony is intense, beyond it, really. But, what choice has he? He said he'd do it, and he is. If it's a challenge, he has to prove himself and this is a step in that, that he can deal with it. Or at least he hopes. But not much hoping right now, everything hurts too much to even think!
At least things are hidden inside of Gorphat, sparing him from seeing what happened. Everything still hurts, of course, with the added bonus of feeling torn up inside as well.
Granted, Alptraum will have to pull out at some point. Which ... is a few minutes before his legs stop shaking enough for him to even try to withdraw. Idiot? Well, yes, yes he is.
There's a suction effect from the mucous that resists the pull (Gorphat is too slothful to have that sort of muscle control) and comes with more bubbles and odors. And of course there's no change in Alptraum's cursed arousal.
A bit more force is applied to overcome that suction. Once Alptraum is all the way out, he, well, checks himself for damage from that. He also ends up falling to his kneels finally since he can't stand. "Ugh," he mutters, now face-level with that bubbly odor-'pot'.
One of the bubbles pops in Alptraum's face. Things look.. angry.. compared to his usual arousal, but otherwise there's no difference other than the pain and the way it twitches with each heartbeat.
Alptraum stills himself, breathes a few times, then sighs out. To further prove himself, the bat closes his eyes and he leans right in and kisses Gorphat right where he just pulled out, tongue and all. Mind you, he is holding his breath to keep from, well, smelling it.
There's still taste though, which is a bit like rancid fish, even though Alptraum has never had fish, it's what he imagines it might be like. It coats the tongue.
Alptraum holds that kiss too. Maybe because he doesn't want his tongue back in his mouth, really. When he does disengage, he makes sure to lick her leg to get some of it off.
This manages to pull off green fur which instead sticks to Alptraum's tongue.
Alptraum sighs, and wipes his tongue off with his hands then and rises. "I ... think I shall go see the horrib queen now," he mutters, while struggling not to heave.
"It is good to let her know she is important to the Temple," Gorphat says.
He has to use the shadow to try and ease the pain he's feeling right now before attempting to walk. Once it's 'bearable', it's off to the horrib queen lair.
Even with the shadow, it's hard to walk. Alptraum also feels a bit dizzy (or seasick) which doesn't help. Only a very few in the Temple ever go to the Horrib Queen's lair willingly, so at least he's not interrupted.
Things are buzzing in the chamber, as drones go about recycling resin or cleaning the queen. Several Hoshim are also in attendance, but they tend to stay in the back of the chamber, behind their suspended Queen.
And Alptraum does finally make it, and manages to slowly enter into this chamber. This creature both terrifies and facinates him, really. Especially since an aspect of himself helped give birth to the thing. Also, probably, because he knows he can fix any sort of real risk in the chance the creature decided to lay eggs in him, since he can remove them with the shadow with some effort. "Hello, beautiful," he says to the queen.
"Didda-Dudda-Chum," the queen greets Alptraum in return, the many parts of her mouth rearranging to give her face a vaguely Eeee-like appearance. The fleshy section of her body, ripples in odd ways, making it unclear what processes are happening beneath the pale skin.
Alptraum slowly approaches the queen, though he will stop of any of those in attendance act threatening. "I am here to tend to you," he tells the suspended creature as he looks over it's bizarre structures. "I am to tend to all of Gorphat's children ... I think."
The sections of the queen's face try to make a smile, or a grimace. The ovipositor at the bottom of her fleshy abdomen curls forward though. All of the horribs and horrib-kin stop buzzing, making the chamber eerily silent.
Alptraum actually reaches down and pets that ovipositor. He's gentle and careful, but he does touch it, and explore it a little with fingertips. "I just need to figure out what would please you best," he admits.
The queens wings vibrate, and the ovipositor oozes some.. stuff. It doesn't have a smell, and doesn't make Alptraum's fingers go numb.. just tingle a bit. The stinger on her armored tail scrapes against the ground though. The queen's venom is pretty versatile, in that can numb OR paralyze depending on her whim.
Alptraum continues to pet that weird appendage, then actually takes some of that ooze and rubs it, on, well, his hurting and angry junk to see what effect it has.
It burns, of course. Not quite like acid, but like kyootcumber juice.
As if it couldn't hurt more. Argh. This causes Alptraum to stop and such in his breath in pain.
The queen tries to mimic the sucking sound, which comes out as a 'clicky' hiss.
That ... Alptraum's ears lay back. If she wants him to put himself inside that thing ... after how it burned ...ow. He actually has to take a few minutes to steady himself for even considering it, while looking back and forth between the horrible thing and his angry thing. He also realizes if it's in there she could, well stab it with part of her messed up reproductive system, or worse. Still, it's do something and hurt, or just hurt forever. So the chance of easing the condition has, well ... he takes his hurting parts and carefully lines it up with the currently fleshy end of the oviposition tube. He bites his lip, then, well, pushes it carefully inside.
There's a bump as he goes in, but then the way is clear, as if something was pulled back up inside. The lubrication burns and tingles.
Alptraum whimpers. It really hurts. As if it didn't hurt enough before, it manages to find a way to be, well, worse. It takes him a bit to sort of settle and cope before he can even attempt to do any sort of, well, thrusting.
The queen's giant stinger brushes up along the inside of Alptraum's calf.. sensuously? The very flexible and muscled cloacal orifice pulls on Alptraum as well, so maybe he doesn't need to thrust, but it would at least distract him a little bit from the rest.
Alptraum worries what that queen might do with that stinger! So, even if he doesn't have to thrust, he does anyway just to give himself something to focus on and not think about that terrifying curved-needle thing rubbing on him.
Thrusting does at least move the burning juices around, rather than letting them 'soak in' - and the queen starts making noises again. "Did-a-Chick," she says, only for all the horrib onlookers to repeat the phrase, making it very loud as a result.
The apparent comments are not helping. He's only, well, prepared because of the 'blessing'! Alptraum is not into voyeurisms as well (even with all his other weirdness he's learned). He closes his eyes, tries to not think about what's around him, and continues to, well, thrust. Everything down there right now just, well, hurts.
With eyes closed, it's almost possible to imagine a dry-skinned Gorphat, despite the pain. Until the curve of the stinger strokes right up between his legs. "Dud-a-Chick-k-k," the queen announces in what might pass for a sultry whisper, complete with some stroking by a few of her claw-tipped limbs. The others chorus in the same manner, of course.
Alptraum goes up on his toes when he's stroked by that stinger! Is she going to stab him? He's also twitching a bit all over now from all the odd chitony-y stroking, and of course all the odd sort of ... whispers? It actually makes him thrust a bit faster, though!
This makes things bounce against the curve of the stinger, but at least it means it's curled down so the tip is pointing away from him. This makes the touch almost reassuring, since he doesn't have to guess where it is. The queen's grip grows firmer, pulling Alptraum up close, where his fur can catch in the giant bug's overlapping plates. At least her 'breasts' are soft and not exuding any toxic chemicals.
Alptraum tries a further distraction, though he may live to regret it. He actually tries to reach and nurse on one of those breasts.
They feel rubbery, and the teats also feel strange. It does seem to increase the production of the spicy lubricant however, which dribbles down his inner thighs to cause more tingling. It may cause the queen to chitter something, which the rest pick up and repeat. It sounds like nuts being crushed in a wine press. The stinger is also moving.. for the moment it's more actively rubbing against things instead of just pressing.
Alptraum is busily trying to imagine anything else right now than humping an enormous murder-bug. It's ... not easy, not with the sounds it keeps making, and the parts of it he can feel! Still, he does try to keep nursing since that seems to be helping the bug? So, he brings his hands into it too and starts, well, squeezing the other teats at random!
More hissing and now some wiggling of the fleshy part, but externally and internally. So the queen seems to be getting more excited. But it also means the stinger twitches and moves, so at the moment it is not in contact with any parts of Alptraum.
That makes Alptraum's pulse go up too! Surely she wouldn't use that though on him since he's doing things she likes! So, he just moves faster and his groping gets more intense and, well, grip pressure!
Louder hissing, which makes the chamber sound like a leaking steam pipe. There stinger is on the move though. There's a poke on the back of of Alptraum's scrotum, then a few tapping ones along his rear. Nothing penetrating, just.. probing. Or a sign that the queen is starting to lose control and revert to reflex. Her pseudo-teats ooze a sugary sort of cream, and the abdominal flesh is undulating oddly.
Alptraum squeaks around one of those weird teats! Getting stabbed right now would be bad. Getting stabbed in those places is even worse! But, if he stops she might get mad. Waaaah! There is a bit of a pause as he collects himself, says a prayer to himself regarding about to die, then goes right back to it! There's a question, does he escort himself when he dies?
The stinger moves with a bit more purpose now.. poking in where Gorphat's finger recently did. It does move with Alptraum's hips at least.. and is so far just the tip.
Alptraum turns into an immediate puffball! He did not expect that, and thus every bit of hair on him is now standing straight out. Once false move and very bad things could happen. Very Bad Things. That again causes him to stop a moment, and boy is he whimpering. As he figures out he might be okay for the moment, he tries to resume, though more carefully all things considered! He doesn't want to get stabbed even worse.
The muscular cloaca does not stop, and actually shakes Alptraum around a bit. But his general lack of motion allows the stinger to slide in just deep enough to 'gently' apply pressure to his prostate until.. well, it doesn't feel like kidney stones this time, just more kyootcumber juice that burns from root to tip.
"Dagh, I am such a moron," the bat hisses out when he finally releases that teat. He stands there, sorta still save for the convulsive twitching that rolls over his body. Maybe after this he should just jump off a mountain and not use his wings. It can't hurt any more than this, surely.
Of course, it takes a few moments before the queen releases him. First to release are her limbs, which means he has to support himself in the same position until the stinger retracts.
"Chicka-chicka-dum," the queen tells him, without the chorus this time, as the many drones go back to their original activities now that things have concluded.
Alptraum finds it really hard to stand in that position! His legs are shaking pretty bad, and as soon as the stinger draws out he drops like a rock to the floor. He also starts treating his burning bits with the shadow something intently. Plus ... also thinking about jumping off that mountain again.
The queen removes her stinger at least, after what feels like a year, and withdraws her tail. Her abdomen gurgles.
Alptraum lays there for a bit. Then slowly, he drags himself out of the room. At least the high priestess chamber is next door, he can recover in there, ugh. So, what's left? Magog? But she exists in a wholly different place. Will he have to dream of her, he wonders.
He certainly still has the effects of the blessing to contend with, so there must be something in Gorphat's unique harem that he's missed.
After a bit of recovery, Alptraum envelops most of his body in shadow to make sort of clothing. Mostly flowing robes that inside are soothing at least some. Why? Because he needs some sort of attire as he intends to get up and actually go outside. Time to visit Blarf, alas. Magog well, that's last since it requires sleeping and right now he's not sure he'd wake up if he went to sleep as it is, so best to deal with things here first.
Going out through the main temple is not without notice. One of the Yodhrhinala stationed there comes up and bows to him. "It is an honor to have you visit, Barsunala," she claims. "Is.. is there anything we can do for you?" As a nurse, she may be trying to stall him from reaping one of her patients.
"Ah .. no. I am here to see one of Gorphat's creatures, the giant monster-thing in the tent over there," Alptraum claims and gestures in the direction of Blarf's tent. "Do not fret, I am not here for anyone in specific, I am just tasked to visit the monster for some matters."
"The medicine beast?" the Yodh asks. "I hope it is doing well, then."
"As far as I know," Alptraum claims. "I am not here to claim it, but merely perform a test."
"Sunala's Mercy be with you then," the Yodh blesses, and then bows again before getting out of Alptraum's path.
"And to you," Alptraum replies in kind and bows as well. And then he's off, heading towards Blarf's tent. If nothing else, he can be a good liar in terms of making reasons for a visit sound more important than they are!
Given the quickness of his stride, others are not inclined to get in his way. Plus walking slow would be more painful. The large tend holding Blarf and its patients has a guard outside, who just nods to Alptraum and opens the flap. He doesn't even have a weapon.
Alptraum slips inside and ensures the flap is closed behind him. Then he's looking up at the huge monster. Scary to think he helped produce this thing. "Well, hello," he says, lamely. "I'm here as I believe Gorphat wishes you to tend to, well, something she have given me."
The levels of cots show Blarf is plugged in to at least two dozen patients. Unlike with Nicora, the creature doesn't immediately grab and swallow Alptraum. There are unused tendrils that sort of wave in a clockwise direction around its trunk.
Alptraum approaches one of those tendrils, then reaches out to try and well, poke it.
It twitches and curls up, then the one to Alptraum's left curls up, and then the one after that, until the wave vanishes around the curve of the trunk and the first one uncurls, setting off the next wave of uncurling.
Alptraum tries to get a look at one of the patients and figure out how they're attached. He's not quite sure what to do here yet.
Vines spread out from Blarf's trunk, each one apparently attached to a patient. Some of them vanish under the sheets that cover them, but on near Alptraum looks like it spreads out into branching roots over an older Eeee's face like a mask.
There's also a noise coming from behind Blarf that sounds like something big moving along the ground.
Alptraum moves slowly and tries to look around Blarf and see what is that's moving and making the noise.
It looks like one of its 'roots' is inflating. It begins to take on the contours of an Eeee.. generally. It still looks mostly like a root.
Alptraum blinks. He rubs his eyes, then blinks again. "Uh ... hello?" he says to this weird shape that's forming. "Are you what I am supposed to visit...?"
It sort of has legs, where the root splits. And a hole.
Alptraum stares at this. Okay, this is just plain bizarre. Hexen used to joke about humping a knothole on a tree as a bad joke, so is this life just getting revenge for dumb teenage jokes? Still, not really knowing what he exactly has to do, this seems as close to anything as an answer. So, he approaches it and lets the shadow fall away. Then he's sort of touching this root-thing, and pokes the hole with a finger.
It feels pretty firm, but not woody. It's also got some sort of moisture.. that isn't sap, at least.
"Yeah, I guess so," Alptraum admits, feeling entirely too weird about this. Still, he's probably done weirder. So .. awkward as it is to tru and get into position, soon he's inserting his very sore bits into that odd hole of that root. Slowly, since, well, it hurts.
The rough surface doesn't make it hurt anymore than it already does. But once he's gotten all the way in, the walls close in to hold him tight. Something is going on behind him as well, since the root feels like it's moving again.
Alptraum erks! He actually tries to pull himself back out in panic when it just closed on him!
The parts that are inside are staying inside, as Blarf is as sturdy as a tree. The root is also sprouting tendrils now that start to wrap around him.
Alptraum uhs. "What are you doing?" he actually asks Blarf as now he's squirming as the tree starts grabbing onto him! The rule about not sticking your thing in a tree should have been obeyed!
A thicker root pushes at Alptraum's butt now too, and slowly makes its way inside. The part that's trapped inside feels a light touch at the tip as well.
"Hello!" Alptraum sort of barks when his other way suddenly gets violated. It's not like that's particularly comfortable, either given it's size! He's back to trying to pull out too since something else is touching him now too.
While being slowly impaled from behind, something much thinner manages to enter from the other end. Very thin, and a bit wiggly. Hopefully the intent isn't for them to meet in the middle.
Alptraum's left eye gets bigger than his right! "Oooookay, that feels really, really, wrong. It should hurt, but maybe since all of it hurting is causing that sort of pain to get lost in the middle. So, finally, he stops squirming himself and just lets it do ... whatever it is it's trying to do!
While the softer, thinner tendril works its way down the urethra, is starts putting out shoots sideways into the inflamed tissue, and those feel like they spread out even further. The rear one is still just slowly going, until it stops not far in. Then it starts to produces shoots that penetrate the rectal wall between it and the prostate gland.
Alptraum's ears shoot up and what of his fur that is free, well, puffs straight out! His jaws open and close several times before he can manage to squeak out, "Ow." If feels like that thing is trying to take over, or something!
So, maybe Blarf is trying to meet in the middle. So far the sprouting tendrils are reaching into every bit of the curse-afflicted tissue, and even into the testicles. The urethral tendril is still sprouting along the way, so it's going much slower. At least Melusine didn't hurt this month when she snipped things off.
Of course znipping things off leaves him sorta, not him! Maybe that would be better right now? Or maybe Blarf can just ... fix whatever's wrong and that's what it's doing? At least for the moment, Alptraum is trying to not panic.
There's a lot of throbbing sensation from the tendrils once they've connected on the inside, right at the 'root' of it all. It isn't clear what's going on, other than the strange sensations through the pain.. until the pain stops. It's replaced by numbness though!
Alptraum blinks. "Uh ..." he stutters, quickly trying to look down to see if things are still attached, well at least in so much as what he can actually see. He even tries to tug out again.
There's still a very firm grip. But without the pain, he can finally notice the scent of blood and other fluids. He doesn't feel wet anywhere though, so he's apparently not bleeding out.
"Oh, maybe it's draining pressure again, like what Mave did," Alptraum muses, which probably lying to himself on it makes him panic less. At least it's still attached, though what is going on he still really doesn't know. Is even the numbness temporary or permanent?
After the throbbing comes the squirming. Alptraum has no problem feeling where the bits of Blarf are actually touching, including down in his scrotum. If Blarf pulled right now, it would tear everything out!
"Are you trying to make me panic?" Alptraum argues at the tree in a higher pitched voice because he's ... panicking!
Blarf doesn't pull though. It pushes out a new burst of growth, which make it a bit too entangled now. Is it trying to replace it all? The trunk in front of Alptraum starts to grow blisters.
Alptraum whines! "What are you doing?!" he demands of something that can't talk back. Yelling at inanimate things sometimes helps, but ... not at the moment. "You better not be damaging me permanently!"
Blisters grow bigger, and then pop open like seed pods. Inside each is.. Alptraum's junk. Or a copy at least. They jiggle too.
Alptraum blinks. "Okay, so you're making fun of me. Why?" he says with an annoyed scowl. What a switch of moods, that.
At least they aren't aroused at first. But then they are. They look normal for a few moments at least, before they start to sprout little flower-like things, if flowers were made of hairy tentacles.
Alptraum's left eye is twitching. "I ... what ..." he just sort of stammers. He's both horrified and annoyed now.
There might be pollen too, as something is coming out of the tips, only to have the hairy flowers try to catch it. The numbness is starting to fade now as well, which isn't necessarily a good thing.
"Okay, now that is just gross," Alptraum says and makes a 'bleh' sort of face, including with his tongue sticking out. And with the numbness leaving, his attention quickly goes back to, well, that. Is it ... still hurting?
Things are very sore, everywhere. Because he feels like things are full of twine instead of.. him. But the tendrils begin to slowly retract, reversing their original growth.
"Yeah, you better get out of me," Alptraum actually growls. He's not sure how this helped, if it helped at all. Other than make it worse. He also pokes the plant, hard ... with a finger of course.
The surface gives a little from the poking, but the withdrawal is still slow. Once it ends, the other tendrils that held Alptraum in place begin to retract as well.
Alptraum hopes his backside can close after this. That thing in him still feels huge. Bigger than he is, really.
At least he's free to move now! And while everything is sore, it's a normal sort of soreness. And the forced arousal is gone for the moment.
Alptraum wraps himself back into shadow for clothing and breathes out. Well, that's something at least. He gets back to his feet, though a bit wobbly. And now, alas, it only leaves Magog. So, he should probably waddle his way back to the temple. He can 'camp out' in the High Priestess room. Or failing that, just on the main altar.
It's slightly more comfortable to walk back through the temple this time, as soreness isn't quiet the same pain. Then it's a turn to the seldom visited altar, which still looks as if it's never been washed. Probably out of fear of committing some sort of blasphemy.
Alptraum heads right to the altar now that he can actually walk normally! So, he hops up and sits on the altar. Once he's there he can let the shadow withdraw. And now in this much more secluded stop, he can actually inspect his bits for damage. Awkward, but well ... Anyway, he starts by just checking externally before he uses the shadow to check internally.
Sitting isn't exactly comfortable. Up front, there are a lot of little specks of blood, as if it was used as a pincushion, and still a drop of blood oozing form the tip.
Alptraum frowns. This time he uses the shadow and tries to examine himself internally.
There aren't any signs of scarring or internal bleeding, so the withdrawal was fairly clean at least. So hopefully there isn't any damage that might be more apparent during arousal.
Alptraum rubs his forehead and sighs out. Now the question is should he go looking for Magog now, or should he wait and see if the condition comes back. So, for the moment he decides to wait and see what happens if he waits a little.
Things begin to twitch after awhile as arousal starts to return. But at least the blood is staying inside the tissue and not spraying out.
Alptraum lifts it, and looks at the dangly bits too, as things start to return. Well, at least he knows the curse is still there. Disappointing, but at least he knows! So, now he waits a bit longer to see how painful it gets.
The pain starts before things are even fully inflated, as it starts inside and works outward. Exposed skin goes from black to more bruised looking as well.
Alptraum winces. "Well that doesn't look good," he whimpers as he watches this. He even pokes at it lightly.
Poking hurts. And not just during the contact, but afterwards, as if even a slight poke causes a new bruise.
Alptraum frowns. That doesn't look good. He tries to examine it with the shadow again to see if he can tell what's wrong.
The shadow can't seem to detect curses (or blessings), just that arousal is happening despite how much it hurts. Blarf didn't leave any cracks or weaknesses at least, so nothing is about to snap off.. provided Alptraum is gentle with things. It's not too different from when Mave dealt with the immediate effects, just with less visible blood loss.
Alptraum hopes that means it'll be fine if he just heals the 'pinholes' where things were poked. So, he tries to see if he can use the shadow to heal the invaded flesh.
It doesn't do anything for the bruising or pain, but encouraging things to heal without scarring seems to go well, as far as the shadow is concerned.
Alptraum draws the shadow back and inspects again, just in case. "What are you doing?" he actually asks it.
It doesn't reply (which would be even weirder), and without the shadow the pain grows quickly to full strength, making things feel twice as big as they are just to accommodate the intensity.
Alptraum grumbles in frustration! He flops back onto the altar, then shifts until he's effectively laying on the altar. Looks like he does have to visit Magog. Hopefully if he goes to sleep thinking about her, maybe he'll shift to that plane. Being in the temple will probably help, he hopes.
The biggest challenge is putting the pain out of mind. Mentally saying 'Magog Magog Magog' over and over works slightly, like counting Rug'rhats. Just pale, furless ones.
It takes a long time, but it helps that the pain is at least consistent and not doing anything else makes it easier to tune it out eventually. Being exhausted helps as well..
While Alptraum slides down a hill of gore, the pain feels diminished at least, although things are still standing at attention. Or it's due to everything else assaulting his senses in the giant cavern full of corpses.
Alptraum ughs! He flails a bit as he slides in the gore. Soon he's using one hand to cover his nose to try and stifle the stench. The lessened pain he assumes is because of being in a dream place and this not worrying too much about it. The stench, though, he wishes would be less too.
When the sliding stops, he tries to get up and look around in this horrid place.
The view always seems to be blurred by fumes in the distance, but he's in a low spot in a shallow valley. There are some chirping sounds, but the soft surfaces make distance and direction hard to discern.
"Magog?" Alptraum calls out loudly (while holding his nose). Where is that big blob of weird? He also tries to carefully walk, following what he hopes is the direction the chirps are coming from.
As Alptraum searches, the chirps become louder, and his grown starts to feel warm. The chirps definitely are getting closer, and may have surrounded him.
Alptraum's ears splay a little. He turns slowly to try and locate the sounds ... and also dares to try and look down at himself too and the warmth.
It's probably the worst thing to see in this place: the glow of corruption (or sin) that the Yodhmagog are driven to consume. It could be the curse itself! One chirp comes from very close by, along with the squelch of something galumphing across the charnal landscape.
Alptraum rubs his face. "Oh ... dagh," he mutters. If that's glowing, that means eating. Which quickly translates into ... running! Which he does! Away from chirping and thumping!
The problem is that running one direction brings him closer to another source of chirping. There is a lot more of the chirping as well, in general, and he has no idea which direction he's moving in, if his goal is to reach Magog herself.
Right now his goal is just getting away from the chirping! So he runs and changes directions when it seems like it's getting louder! He's really regretting not wiping the sisters out at the moment.
Running is haphazard, as the ground can literally slide out from underfoot without warning. And since this is hell, every change in direction seems to lead into more chirping than the last one did.
Alptraum is growling at this point! Screw running, he tries to FLY!
Well, Yodhmagog certainly can't do that, since none of the corpses can fly. The fumes seem a bit worse higher up, as if they're accumulating into clouds until the high cavern ceiling. But it does let him hear more than chirps. There are agonized cries of the spirits being punished, which should be close to Magog.
Holding his nose and flying as low as he can safely, Alptraum heads in that direction! One has to wonder about the sanity of flying towards agonizing cries.
He passes over a lot of chirps aimed in his direction, but eventually he spots the giant, pale bulk of Magog, next to the line of stocks holding the prisoners.
Alptraum heads right towards that, tucking in his wings a bit and shifting to come in for a landing. "Magog!" he calls out.
The face end of the mound of flesh doesn't really respond until Alptraum lands. She ponderously turns her body to face him then.
Alptraum rubs his face. "I have come to see you, I believe on the desires of Gorphat. She has been having me, ah ... tend to hers in specific ways," he says, trying to sound formal and not too silly. Of course this is ruined when he gestures to his crotch.
Magog seems to 'look' in that direction, despite having perpetually closed eyelids. And then.. she's different. It doesn't seem like anything actually changed, but Magog is a furless, pale skinned Eeee with a disturbing resemblance to Nicora, with the multiple breasts. But her eyes are still closed, showing the same green arteries beneath the glossy, possibly slimy skin.
At the same time, she's still a mountain of flesh.
Alptraum finds her looking like Nicora is a little ... distracting. There's the pangs of desire to be Nicora, and that unfortunately does make him more aroused. He coughs a bit. Soon, he's approaching her and then even dares to reach out and touch the flesh; curios to see if she is slimy.
It's a different sort of slime, one made of sweat and dead skin and a bit of mucous. Well, a lot of mucous. And a bit cool. At the touch, Magog twitches her ears.
Alptraum reaches up and touches those twitching ears. "Do you wish for me to use this?" he asks of her. "I think your children want to eat it."
Magog slowly licks her own face with her tongue. She doesn't vocalize at all, but rubs her hands over her upper breasts. They leak of course, the odd milk-slime that the Yodhmagog leave behind like a trail.
Alptraum takes that as a yes. So he's pushing her back a bit, then tries to press close in spite of her oozing ... then pick that Eeee up and try to get her to slip herself down on his glowing bits.
It's tricky to maneuver her close due to the rows of breasts. And she's slippery, so it takes laying her back against a pile of rotting flesh to achieve the right angle. She doesn't resist, certainly, and she feels just as clammy and sticky as expected on the inside.
At least she has an inside! Nicora barely does most of the time. And hey, this one doesn't have the maggot issue anymore since Nicora does, so at least it makes this a bit ... better? So, knowing he'll regret it, soon he actually kisses her and his hips start moving.
The kiss sticks, so lasts longer than intended - until Magog's extra-long tongue (even for an Eeee) tries to reach all the way down Alptraum's throat. She reacts a bit bouncily to the the hip movements, as is she were boneless or inflated.
Alptraum struggles to not gag, and actually let her do that with her tongue. Mostly since he's trying to prove himself to Gorphat, he can't act repulsed even when he is! The bounciness, though, is nice and it lets him really move his hips more. Hey, at least she's squishy, which does feel kind of nice.
Given the position a bit of gore gets into things, and they're both pretty much covered in corpse juice, so the smell is best forgotten. And there are bubbles coming from the froth of Magog's loins, caused by the gas released from the pumping action.
Alptraum has closed his eyes at this point and stopped breathing through his nose at all. If he doesn't see it or smell it, at least it's not too horrible and he can imagine better things. Or at least he tries. It's not like he really feels any pleasure either, not from the curse and its general pain! So, it really is about her, so he's trying to get her to react ... enjoyably?
The squelchy and parpy noises are harder to block out. Magog is practically glued to Alptraum at this point, with the just the nipples and their lubricating goo keeping it from being completely stuck together. Magog doesn't give any indication of how she's feeling, since she doesn't voice anything, although the noises from below do get louder.
Alptraum, at points, thinks he'd prefer a rhugrhat on a cold lonely night instead of this! But, duties are duties, and well, a curse has to be fixed! Especially this one. So, he soldiers on, through the burps and the blurps, the slime and the stew. Nothing shall stop the lascivious bat.
It doesn't feel like it's going ever end, but the sounds of chirps begin to get closer, as the Yodhmagog have begun to close in. Finally, Magog starts to move her own hips a bit to meet with Alptraum's.
The sounds of the chirping approaching makes the bat hurry up! He doesn't want to be caught by those creatures or he may end up losing his bits! When he's male he rather prefers having them, thanks. And after all, Rosalind, Phlagaea, Mave and Tulani would all be upset!
The increase in speed causes at least something akin to friction, which helps with moving things closer to completion - along with the adrenaline surge from hearing the approaching Yodhmagog. Magog makes more gassy noises, and even 'burps' right into Alptraum's mouth. It unsurprisingly tastes like rotten meat.
Alptraum ends up gagging. That he couldn't prevent, not with that taste, ugh. It's a good thing he's got an empty stomach. Bleh.
When Magog clenches a bit, she shows that she has reached her peak by vomiting and expelling whatever else she had in her through her other orifices.
And that's when Alptraum really makes sure he's not kissing her. Though he ends up heaving some himself while making all sorts of pitiful, sad, whimpers.
The counter barf at least gives Magog something else to do with her tongue outside of Alptraum's throat. Is it finally over?
Alptraum tries to extract himself from Magog before the 'children' get there!!
Things pull out with a connective string of mucous, but there's still a red glow! Until Magog bends down and gets her mouth around things. She doesn't bite.. but sucks. Quite hard in fact. Alptraum can feel the curse moving due to it.
Alptraum aughs! Now he's trembling! And worried she might bite it off, or suck it entirely off! This is a dream place, but still, some things manage to escape!
She starts to make swallowing noises as the glow starts to dim now. The first of the Yodhmagog are cresting a nearby corpse mound.. nearly a dozen of them.
Alptraum is glad the glow is going away! It's not going away fast enough, though and he's staring at those blobs cresting the hill. His ears go completely back. "Oh no," he whimpers. He hopes beyond hope Magog will finish in time and he'll wake up!
Slurp slurp slurp, the ancient demi-goddess goes. She works faster, but that also involves a few moments of biting down. By the time to Yodhmagog tide gets close enough to be worrisome, they just stop and go silent.
Alptraum is also silent, with huge eyes and a horrified expression all over his face. He holds completely still. Maybe that means she's done and he's now safe? He dares to look down, quickly!
Magog fills Alptraum's vision. She's back to her normal size and form, with her giant mouth clamped down on him. But then lets go and backs up a bit. The curse glow is gone, but not the green one from all the Magog fluids coating things.
Alptraum backpedals quickly and then starts wiping at his crotch. "Ugh, ew," he mutters, over and over.
The Yodhmagog are on the move again, closing in. But they're making cooing sort of noises now.
Alptraum uhs. "Sorry gals, I'm a bit tapped out," he whimpers as he continues to walk backwards slowly. "wake up, wake up!" he thinks.
The cool stone of the altar wakes Alptraum up, but he feels sticky. But the cooing sounds no longer haunt him.
"Oh thank the Gods," Alptraum murmurs as he slowly sits up. As for why he feels sticky ... soon he's looking into why. And if Mr' Angry is more back to Mr. Happy.
There's a lot of goo down there, but at least things are relaxed again, as nothing is trying to rise up above the goo.
Alptraum tries to clean off the goo. Is it his goo? Or other goo?
It feels and smells like Magog goo, and touching it just spread it. It may be a job for the shadow.
Alptraum, therefore, brings out the shadow to remove it! Hopefully, he doesn't end up tasting it.
This is effective at combing the foreign goo out of his fur, leaving a blob of it on the altar.
And Alptraum slips himself off the Altar, trying to leave the goo behind. He also re-checks his junk for damage with the shadow, just in case.
Everything feels normal now that the curse is gone. Although he'll need to test that it still works normally at some point.
That time is ... not today. He's ready to head back to the nest and just rest, he thinks. But, he can't really go out the front door again. So, back into shadow clothing, and then he's moving slowly towards the rear and the hidden way out.
Using shadow makes stealth a lot easier, certainly. There aren't any interruptions or chance encounters. Nobody questions the Barsunala suddenly appearing or vanishing from a Temple, after all, so there's no need to worry about those who did see him. By the time he's out the back door and into the open air again, his chest is starting to feel tender though.
"You can't be serious?!" Alptraum blurts out and ends up, well, having to land again! Changing mid-flight could be dangerous, after all. Once he's back on the ground near Mount Gorphat, he checks his chest.
He's starting to grow breasts. Which means Inala's curse is back in play, and Gorphat's has truly ended.
Alptraum's left ear twitches and he sits down on a log. Why, to wait out 'the change'. Flying while shifting is dangerous on too many levels, best to just wait it out ... then fly back as fully female. Well, as long as he remains an Eeee. If that changes, well, it gets more awkward. Still, he's too tired to worry about that. He just sits there looking really pouty.